Reflections on Medusa

The Aegis is a coat/shield/breatplate with powerful protective properties. It also acts as a kind of weapon. It was said to belong to Zeus, and was made from the skin of a goat that raised Zeus when he was a baby. Apollo also used it to frighten the Greeks during the Trojan war. But usually it is associated with the goddess Athene. She is often depicted wearing it, fringed with snakes, and in the center is fixed the fearsome head of Medusa.

I’m thinking about the death of Medusa at the hand of Perseus (aided by the goddess Athene). In the very moment he cut of her head, two beings (said to be the children of Poseidon) sprang from her severed neck. The first was the winged horse Pegasos, and the second was Chrysaor armed with a golden sword. Chrysaor means ‘golden sword’.

Also I’m thinking of the time when Athene caught sight of her own distorted reflection, with cheeks all puffed up, in a river, whilst playing some pipes, a musical instrument she herself invented. Also, according to Pindar…

…long ago Pallas Athene invented,
weaving in music’s rich refrain
The goulish dirge of the fierce-hearted Gorgons.

…That son of Danae, who reaped the head
Of the fair-cheeked Medusa;
He who, men tell, was from a flowing stream
Of gold begotten. But when the goddess maid delivered
From these labours this man she loved, then she contrived
The manifold melodies of the flute, to make
In music’s notes an image of the shrill
Lamenting cries, strung from Euryale’s
Ravening jaws..

Pindar (Pythian Ode 12. 8-10, 15-22)
(Trans’ Conway, G.S and Revised by R. Stoneman,1997, p. 188-189)

I knew about the myth, but it wasn’t until I read a blog entry ‘The mirror of Athene’ (The site no linger exists), that I saw the possible connection with the disfigured face of Medusa, who herself was once beautiful. Medusa and Poseidon lay together in Athena’s temple, and the Goddess Athene, outraged by the desecration, transformed her beauty into ugliness, and her flowing hair into writhing snakes.

Inanna’s Descent into the Underworld

The goddess Inanna desired to visit the realm of death ruled over by her sister Ereshkigal, the queen of the underworld. In preparation, Inanna clothed herself in regalia and precious jewels, and gave certain instructions to her handmaid Ninshubur, that if she should fail to return, she must present herself before the gods, Enlil, Nanna, and Enki, and ask for their assistance.

As Inanna’s journey progressed toward the heart of the underworld, she passed through seven gateways. At each of these gates it was required that she remove an item of clothing, in accordance with the decrees of the underworld. Finally Inanna stood, both naked and powerless, before the throne of queen Ereshkigal, and the Anunnaki, the seven judges of the underworld.

Inanna fought the queen of death, but in vain, and the Anunnaki cast her a deadly glance, and with a word, reduced the sick goddess to a corpse.

Her body was hung upon a stake, where it was to remain for a period of three days. According to the later Akkadian version of this myth, during the period of the goddess’s death, all sexual activity, whether between humans, or between animals, ceased.

Meanwhile, Ninshubur followed her lady’s instructions, and sought out the three gods, but Enki alone, the god of wisdom, was concerned enough to help.

He formed two asexual beings, called Kurgarra and Kalaturra, using the dirt from beneath his fingernails, and gave them the food and water of life.

The specially created beings went down to the underworld and discovered Ereshkigal morning for her dead children. Because they lamented alongside her, Ereshkigal was pleased to grant them one request. They asked her for the corpse of Inanna, and reluctantly she complied. Kurgarra and Kalaturra revived the dead goddess with the food and water of life, and fled from the realm of death, with a swarm of demons following close behind them.

The demons demanded that a substitute should take Inanna’s place, and so, when Inanna reached her own city of Erech and discovered her husband Dumuzi sitting upon a throne, seemingly unconcerned by the whole matter, she handed him over. Dumuzi is not easily imprisoned. More than once, with the help of the sun god Utu, he manages to escape from the underworld. In another text it is agreed that he should spend half the year in the realm of death, and his sister Geshtinanna, the other half, ever-revolving between the two realms, so it would seem, for endless time.